NIH PA-25-425: Parent F30 Fellowship for Dual-Degree Students at Institutions Without NIH-Funded Dual-Degree Programs

NIH PA-25-425: Parent F30 Fellowship for Dual-Degree Students at Institutions Without NIH-Funded Dual-Degree Programs

PA-25-425 is the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship for students in combined health-professional and research doctoral programs at institutions without NIH-funded institutional predoctoral dual-degree training programs. It supports an integrated course of mentored research and clinical training for future physician-scientists and other clinician-scientists. NIH’s official notice remains open. Its August 8, 2026 receipt date has passed; the next listed standard receipt date is December 8, 2026. Applicants can use the active opportunity for this upcoming cycle, subject to the eligibility and participating Institute or Center requirements below. The notice lists later standard dates through April 8, 2028, and expires May 8, 2028.

The next standard due date is December 8, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. local time of the applicant organization. The date field on this page refers to that next submission date, not to the August cycle that has closed. For December submissions, the NIH schedule pairs the receipt date with scientific merit review in March 2027, Advisory Council review in May 2027, and an earliest start date of July 2027. NIH also lists later cycles on April 8, 2027, August 8, 2027, December 8, 2027, and April 8, 2028. Those are separate opportunities to submit under this notice; applicants should choose the cycle that fits a complete application and confirm the table and any posted notices before filing. NIH recommends submitting early enough to identify and correct application errors before the applicable deadline.

What the fellowship supports

An F30 application proposes a mentored research training project alongside the clinical education required by a formal dual-doctoral program. NIH gives examples such as MD/PhD, DO/PhD, DDS/PhD, AuD/PhD, DVM/PhD, and PharmD/PhD. The work must concern a health-related scientific field within the mission of a participating NIH Institute or Center. This is a parent funding opportunity rather than a call for a single disease or technology: the candidate develops an individual training and research plan with a sponsor, then identifies a participating Institute or Center whose mission and specific requirements fit the project.

The award budget is made up of a stipend, tuition and fees, and an institutional allowance. NIH’s latest listed NRSA rate notice is for FY 2026 and sets the predoctoral stipend at $29,364 annually. For a fellow enrolled in a formal combined dual-degree program, tuition support is 60% of actual tuition, up to $21,000 per year. The annual institutional allowance is $4,750 for a fellow sponsored by a non-federal public, private, or nonprofit institution, including health insurance, or $3,650 for a fellow sponsored by a federal or for-profit institution, also including health insurance. These are policy amounts for awards made with FY 2026 funds; the page does not treat them as a promised FY 2027 rate for the December cycle’s possible award. NIH’s fiscal-policy notices currently list the FY 2026 NRSA notice, so applicants and institutional budget staff should verify the applicable level when the award is prepared and use any newer NIH notice if one is issued.

The F30 can provide up to six years of aggregate NRSA support for dual-degree training, counting applicable prior NRSA support. It is meant to support both research and clinical preparation and cannot be used only for clinical training years. NIH generally expects at least half of the total F30 support period to be devoted to full-time graduate research training leading to the research doctorate. Support is contingent on appropriations and the submission of meritorious applications; the notice does not promise a fixed number of awards or a fixed total award amount.

Who can apply

The applicant organization must be eligible under the notice and must not have a currently active NIH-funded institutional predoctoral dual-degree training program supporting the same dual degree when the fellowship application is submitted for review. NIH identifies MSTP, DSTP, and similar programs as examples of institutional support that can make an organization ineligible for PA-25-425. The applicant should verify this institution-level test with its research administration office and NIH program staff before preparing a submission. A student at an ineligible institution may need the companion opportunity for institutions with NIH-funded dual-degree programs instead.

The candidate must be enrolled in a formal combined program leading to a health-professional doctoral degree and a research doctoral degree. A professional degree by itself, or residency training alone, is not the training purpose of this award. The candidate must hold a baccalaureate degree or equivalent and show commitment to a career as an independent physician-scientist or other clinician-scientist. By the time of award, the candidate must be a U.S. citizen, a non-citizen national, or lawfully admitted for permanent residence.

For MD/PhD and DO/PhD candidates, NIH says the candidate should have matriculated in the formal dual-degree program, identified a dissertation research training project, and identified sponsor or sponsors. NIH encourages candidates to submit when the project and training program are fully developed with the sponsor. Most candidates are expected to apply within 48 months of matriculation in the dual-degree program and no later than 24 months into dissertation research training. NIH will consider exceptions for non-standard program formats and official leaves of absence. These are timing expectations to discuss with the appropriate NIH Institute or Center, not a substitute for reviewing the complete eligibility section for the candidate’s specific degree path.

NIH sets separate eligibility details for other dual-degree paths. AuD/PhD, DVM/PhD, and VMD/PhD candidates must have matriculated in the dual-degree program and identified a research training project and sponsor or sponsors; at least half of the requested F30 support must be full-time graduate research leading to the research doctorate. DDS/PhD and DMD/PhD candidates must also have matriculated and identified their project and sponsor team, with at least half of the total dual-degree program devoted to full-time research training leading to the research doctorate. The 48-month and 24-month timing expectations stated for MD/PhD and DO/PhD applicants should not be mechanically applied to these other paths; candidates should follow the notice’s degree-specific criteria and consult their Institute or Center contact when their program format raises a question.

The proposed period must make sense across the candidate’s actual research and clinical sequence. The candidate must pursue research training full time at the time of award, normally 40 hours per week or as defined by the sponsoring organization. The training plan should explain how research work, clinical experiences, and required degree activities fit together and satisfy NIH’s expectation that at least half of the supported period advances the research doctorate.

Clinical trial boundary

PA-25-425 does not permit a candidate to propose leading an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or an ancillary clinical trial. A candidate may gain research experience in a clinical trial led by the sponsor or co-sponsor as part of the training plan. When the candidate proposes that experience, the sponsor or co-sponsor must document leadership of the trial, its funding source, its NCT number, and relevant expertise. The sponsor or co-sponsor remains responsible for trial oversight and patient safety. Candidates should describe a learning role accurately and should not frame their work as independent trial leadership.

Application route and required planning

Use the application package for PA-25-425 through NIH ASSIST, Grants.gov Workspace, or the institution’s system-to-system submission route. Follow the Fellowship (F) instructions in the NIH How to Apply Application Guide and the program-specific instructions in the notice. Where the notice gives a different instruction from the general guide, the notice takes precedence. The institution must complete required registrations before the application due date. Build in time for registration, sponsor coordination, institutional review, and electronic validation rather than treating the deadline as the start of submission work.

The candidate and sponsor prepare a connected application rather than independent statements. The PHS Fellowship Supplemental Form includes a candidate section, research training plan, commitment to the candidate and mentoring and training environment, other training plan sections, budget, and limited appendix materials. The candidate section should make the applicant’s preparation, goals, and potential legible. The research training plan should explain the project, specific aims, methods, feasibility, and how the work advances the candidate’s training. Sponsor materials should show who will supervise the work, how the mentoring will function, and why the proposed environment can provide the needed research and clinical preparation.

Before starting the package, identify a primary sponsor who will supervise the research project and coordinate the overall training plan. A sponsor team can be useful where it strengthens mentorship or covers distinct parts of the candidate’s research and clinical development. The candidate should also identify the participating Institute or Center whose mission fits the proposed work and check its IC-specific requirements and contacts in the notice. NIH cautions applicants that not every Institute or Center participates in every parent announcement, and an otherwise sound application may not fit a component’s mission or rules.

The organization needs active required registrations. NIH specifies that the applicant organization must have an active SAM registration for Grants.gov registration. The PD/PI must have an eRA Commons account affiliated with the applicant organization and must have a valid ORCID ID linked to the personal eRA Commons profile. If the PD/PI also serves as the organizational Signing Official, NIH requires separate accounts for those roles. Confirm that the people who prepare, approve, and submit the application have the needed roles in the chosen system.

Plan the responsible conduct of research (RCR) instruction as a required part of the application. NIH requires at least eight contact hours, in-person or interactive instruction rather than a plan consisting only of online instruction, faculty participation, appropriate subject matter, and instruction at each career stage and at least once every four years. The application should explain the format, topics, sponsor and faculty role, contact hours, and schedule. Include human-subjects, clinical-trial, animal, and other compliance information when relevant to the actual project. NIH reviewers assess the proposed training plan and applicable protections; generic assurances do not replace project-specific detail.

How to plan for the next receipt date

The next standard due date is December 8, 2026. NIH’s schedule gives the December cycle review and award milestones as scientific merit review in March 2027, Advisory Council review in May 2027, and earliest start in July 2027. These are planned review and earliest-start milestones, not a promise that an individual application will be funded or receive an award on that date. Applicants should plan backwards from the receipt date with their institution, leaving time to complete the research and training plans, assemble sponsor and institutional information, resolve registration issues, and submit early enough to address electronic errors. The deadline is 5:00 p.m. in the applicant organization’s local time.

NIH’s standard due-date notice changed the handling of HIV/AIDS applications. The PA page still displays historical AIDS-date columns for earlier cycles, but NIH Notice NOT-OD-26-029 says the dedicated AIDS application dates no longer apply beginning with applications for the January 2027 Advisory Council review. Applications use the standard receipt dates for both AIDS and non-AIDS research. For the upcoming cycles listed above, use the standard date in the PA schedule rather than calculating a separate AIDS date.

Fellowship awards are generally not renewable. NIH allows a renewal application only in rare circumstances and advises fellows who may need further support to consult NIH staff. New and resubmission applications are allowed; revisions are not allowed under this notice. For project-specific instructions or uncertainty about candidate fit, contact the scientific or grants-management contact listed for the relevant Institute or Center before submission.

A practical readiness checklist

Before committing to a cycle, ask the institution to confirm that it does not have a currently active NIH-funded institutional program supporting the same dual degree. Confirm the candidate’s degree structure, citizenship or permanent-resident status at award, timing in the program, prior NRSA support, and research-doctorate time share. Confirm that the research topic fits a participating Institute or Center and does not make the fellow the independent lead of a clinical trial.

Then work with the sponsor to make the candidate’s development the organizing thread of the application. The scientific question needs to be rigorous and feasible, but the F30 is also a training fellowship: explain what the candidate needs to learn, why the mentoring team and environment are suited to provide it, how progress will be reviewed, and how research and clinical components fit the dual-degree path. Build the stipend, tuition, and institutional allowance from the applicable NIH policy notice, and coordinate the budget with the grants office instead of treating the fellowship like a project grant with a discretionary research budget.

Finally, use the current application guide and notice to check every component, page limit, registration, and electronic submission requirement. Include an RCR plan that meets each NIH element, and complete human-subjects, clinical-trial, vertebrate-animal, and other forms only as applicable to the proposed work. Submit before the deadline to leave room for corrections, and monitor the application in the institutional route and eRA Commons after submission. A successful submission must satisfy both the science and training goals and the administrative rules in the notice.

Official sources

• PA-25-425 official NIH notice — participation, eligibility, deadlines, award structure, and application instructions.
• NIH Parent Announcements — current listing and expiration date for PA-25-425.
• NOT-OD-26-044: FY 2026 NRSA stipend and budget levels — predoctoral stipend, dual-degree tuition cap, and institutional allowance.
• NOT-OD-26-029: NIH removal of AIDS application due dates — transition to standard receipt dates for AIDS applications.
• NIH Standard Due Dates — standard date policies and submission timing.
• NIH How to Apply Application Guide — application forms and instructions.

PA-25-425 is an active F30 route for dual-degree trainees whose institution passes the program eligibility test. Its next listed date is December 8, 2026; its scope, budget framework, and application components should be checked against the official notice and current NIH policy as the candidate prepares. The notice’s listed future dates do not guarantee funding: award decisions depend on appropriations, scientific merit, and the relevant Institute or Center’s priorities.